My Taste Of Music Is Your Face
by peachykeenage
Summary: Josh Dun moved from Indiana into a totally new world (Columbus, Ohio.) He knows no one and doesn't want to either. Tyler on the other hand is basketball obsessed and ashamed of his musical talent. The two boys are kind of weirded out by each other, but as soon as Josh starts causing chaos he's unaware of things start getting interesting. Stay alive, clique
1. Nobody Thinks What I Think

CHAPTER ONE: nobody thinks what I think

Tyler Joseph flung himself out of bed. Sweat dripped from his shoulders, but his heavy breathing created fog from the cold December night. Once he finally caught his breath and wiped the sweat from his body he began to cry. Not the sniffling cry, the really ugly, gasping for air, fist clenching, screaming into pillow crying. "Why do I have to cry like this?" Pleaded Tyler. "Why do I always have these bad thoughts?" Tyler picked up the slouched over pillow from the countless punching and held it to his face, muffling any sound **. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"** Tyler screamed so loud but so quiet. All the blood rushed to his face from anger. _Why did I have to be this kid?_ His thoughts bellowed around his mind, taunting him. _My parents didn't ask for this!_

Suddenly, Tyler jumped at the sound of footsteps coming toward his room. His breathing stopped and he rummaged his body under the covers again, wiping all tears from his face. Unless someone heard him no one would really be able to tell that he had had another bad night. Third time this week. The footsteps got nearer until Tyler's bedroom door creaked open. _Zack._ Tyler let out a sigh of relief as he loosened his posture.

"Tyler?"

"I thought you were mom or something." His breath still needing to be caught.

"No, just me." Zack stepped into the dark room, dark hair a mess and only wearing basketball shorts.

"Thanks for knocking." The sarcasm flooded out of Tyler mouth as he watched his younger brother carefully.

"I heard banging from your room. If you were dying in here I sure wouldn't have knocked first. Are you ok?" Zack made his way toward Tyler's twin sized mattress and sat down next to Tyler. This hand me down was the most respected. Jay lost his first tooth on this bed, Zack's first bed was this one, and Madison had her first period on this bed. All Tyler had ever done on this bed was have night terrors.

"I'm fine, I guess." Tyler ran his fingers through his sweaty hair. Zack knew Tyler better than anyone. He knew about Tyler's nightmares way before tonight, but for some reason he didn't feel like telling anyone about them.

"Bad night again, huh?" Zack stared at Tyler through the dark. Tyler paused, _is it really any of his business anymore? I'm not eight anymore. I don't need him to sing to me."_ He stayed silent.

"Tyler, you've got to tell mom or dad. You know, therapists can prescribe med-," Tyler cut him off with a jolt.

"Don't say it, Zack. You know I hate wh-," he rushed but Zack interrupted Tyler back.

"Medicine for you. To _help_ you! Do you want to sleep like this every night? Do you think your future wife would want to be waken up every night because of something you could have prevented when you were eighteen?" Zack was closer than ever to his older brother's face. Tyler couldn't speak. _Crap,_ Tyler pondered, _he's actually really right._

"Zack, I-," Tyler started up and Zack ended.

"I just hate seeing you like this. You're my brother and…" His voice folded away as his eyes drifted to a pile of papers on Tyler's desk.

"What are these?" He picked them up quick before Tyler had a say in anything.

"Zack stop!" He whispered violently. "They are songs! They aren't done!" Tyler tried to rip them from his hands but Zack was faster. He began reading one page over and over again.

"Tyler, this is...this is really good...You swear you wrote this yourself?" Zack looked up at him in astonishment. His older brother nodded and looked away. The thing was that Tyler had never been prideful in his life. These songs were drafts and little notes to get him away from what he was feeling. These songs weren't..good.

"Where's your piano?" Zack handed the papers back to Tyler's exhausted hands. As he looked around the room for his piano Tyler's eyes flickered to his digital clock. _4:16 AM._

"Zack, no! Did you see the time? We have school tomorrow, man." Zack looked behind him to see the time and only shrugged.

"Just play for a little bit." Zack begged silently.

Tyler thought for a moment, _anything is better than sleep._ He pointed his finger to small keyboard on the floor. Zack finally got up and grabbed it off the floor. Tyler tore it away from Zack and flipped the **ON** switch. Both brothers sat in silence before Zack said, "well…"

"Well what?"

"Play the song, Tyler."

" I don't want to. Besides, it's not even finished."

"Ok we will finish it tonight."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Ok."

Tyler played an A chord and sung the first line, "nobody thinks what I think-,"

"Wait."

"What?" Tyler was getting annoyed.

"May I?" He motioned to the keyboard. Tyler hesitated then gave it over. Zack cracked his fingers and played a B chord.

"Oh, I like that. What chord is that?" Tyler's eyes lit up with excitement.

"It's a B major chord. Do you want me to keep going?"

"Yeah, go for it!"

Zack and Tyler went back and forth with chords until they finally found the chords: B, E, G#M, F# and added a rap for Zack to rap. _He insisted._

Tyler looked at the clock once more. _6:23 AM._ Tyler pushed the keyboard off his lap and shouted quietly.

"OUR ALARM GOES OFF IN SEVEN MINUTES!"

Zack smiled while Tyler punched his arm.

"Why are you so happy?! We literally stayed up all night! That's not good! I have a test tomorrow!" Tyler rubbed his eyes and laid down in bed, trying to get at least seven minutes...six minutes of decent sleep.

"Yeah, but you didn't have anymore nightmares." Zack got out of Tyler's bed and walked to his own room silently.


	2. Help Me Polarize

Note to all who reads this:

i might not have the best grammar, spelling, or thoughts but i love writing these chapters. Could you just chill and not be a douche? I'm just some kid who loves twenty one pilots and wants to write her own world. If i have an error tell me nicely? Please. I love you guys.

|-/

"Joshua, honey, please eat breakfast. You look terrible. Your eyes are red and you've got..oh dear, are those _bags_ under your eyes?" Josh's mom called out to him as he jolted up to the sound of his school bus trudging close to his street. He threw his sky blue Jansport over his right shoulder, rushing to get out the door. "Joshy, please?" His mom pleaded once more. Josh looked back at his mom's motherly eyes.

"Ok ok." Josh gave up and smiled at her, after all it was the least he could do since he gave her the cold shoulder most this week for making him move to a new town, new state, and worst of all new school. His mom didn't deserve this treatment, but Josh wanted to be angry at someone. It wasn't her fault his dad got moved jobs, but still, she didn't stop their dad from making them move. So instead of the coldness he had wanted his mom to feel he grabbed an apple and rushed towards the door.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Josh heard his mom's high voice from the kitchen. He checked his pockets: _MP3 Player? Check. Lucky bottle cap? Check. Five dollars for lunch? Check. That stupid whistle mom makes me carry incase of emergencies? Check._ No, he wasn't missing anything. Josh went back to check if he left something on the kitchen table. His mom was standing there, pointing to her cheek. _Oh, right._ Josh ran to his mother, kissed her on the cheek, whispered "I love you," and ran out. The bus was coming right to a stop at his house. Josh waited for the mechanical door to swing open and stepped inside the bus.

To the left side of the bus one girl sat with her headphones in. and stared out the bus window, probably thinking about how she rather be asleep. Her brown hair fell over her face, so Josh wasn't really sure if he could see her face, but he saw a slight twisted smile through her hair. _What was she even smiling at?_ Thought Josh. To the right side of the bus there were two boys (who look popular) sitting next to each other, probably discussing football or something unintelligent. Josh had never had luck with any boys his age. They were always so reserved and seemed better than him. The only option looked to be with the girl who smiled at nothing. _We don't have to talk, right?_ Josh sighed as he felt the two boys pause their conversation to stare at him, judging the decision he would pick.

"Hey kid," a gruff voice behind him broke him out of his state. By this time the girl was looking up at Josh, not smiling at nothing anymore. "Can you pick a seat? We've got more than you to pick up, you know." A tall man sitting in the driver's seat bellowed, his gray beard unshaven, and eyes tired. Josh didn't answer the bus driver, instead he made his way to the girls seat. She moved her backpack into her lap, and kept her face looking out the window. _I'm off to a perfect start,_ thought Josh quietly. After about four stops the bus stopped for two kids who were desperately trying to untangle themselves from their mother's tight hugs.

"Zack, don't forget to eat _all_ your lunch and Tyler-," their mother started as the two boys smiled back at her.

"Ok Mom. We get it. Love you!" The boy supposedly named "Tyler" shouted to his mother. Just seeing that kid with his mom made Josh miss his own mom. The two sat in the very front seat, three away from the one Josh shared.

"Do you want to share my lunch with me today? I'm never going to eat it all." Zack proposed.

"Then you'll never get on the basketball team. You've got to start eating more. You're a freaking stick, dude." Tyler began to curl into a ball next to his brother as if he were going to sleep.

"Whatever, man. Did you ever, for one second, think basketball was _Dad's_ thing. Not mine?"

"No." Tyler got quiet after that.

"Tyler?"

There was no response.

For the rest of the bus ride Tyler and Zack slept.


	3. Sit In Silence

"Class..Class! Settle down!" Mr. Martin hollered to the whole Senior English class. Tyler held his breath. He hated any kind of vocal raising. It just reminded him of….

"Class, today we will be touching up on more Salvia Plath and her poems." The whole class was quiet now except for a few. Even though Sylvia Plath had to do with school and no one cared to care about school Tyler cared about this assignment.

"As a young child we learned what about Plath?" Mr. Martin's long cold stare punctured at the class. He stood in front of a white board and pulled off the marker cap with a _skrreettt._ No one in the room raised their hand. Silence echoed the entire atmosphere.

" _You,"_ the teacher froze to smirk at a kid. "Now you look like _you_ know." Mr. Martin pointed his red dry erase marker at a kid Tyler had never seen before. He must be new. The boy's hair was a dark brown, curly mess on the top of his head, leaving the sides shaved. His lip piercing hung noticeably and he looked so annoyed with the whole world. _What is this kid thinking?_ Thought Tyler to himself as he examined the boy's lip piercing. _Doesn't he know how ugly that thing is?_ Tyler wasn't one to make fun of people or even think less, but this lip ring looked so incredibly bad on this boy. Of course he couldn't just tell him that. The boy opened his mouth to answer Mr. Martin's glare. "I...I don't know...really." The student turned a bright red as he looked for places to hide himself. Of course, someone like Mr. Martin would never take an answer like "I don't know really."

"Surely you know something about Sylvia Plath. She wasn't a nobody. Infact, when I took my yearly trip to Bogota I made sure to bring my only copy _The Bell Jar._ I met many different people from all over and, not all, but 99% knew of Sylvia." Mr. Martin made his way to his desk to sit down.

"I'm new." His voice broke as if he was trying to become someone else.

"Oh," Mr. Martin's gray smirk slid into a smile, "Well hello New. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Mr. Martin." The boy slid down more in his seat, trying to become camouflage with the chair.

"In my opinion he's weird." Tyler muttered to his mash potatoes that seemed to be breathing on his lunch tray. The boy sitting across from Tyler responded with a snicker.

"I guess, but he knows _tons_ about Sylvia Plath." His thick Ray-Bans slid down his nose as his fork played with his mysterious chicken nuggets.

"Henry," Tyler looked up from the "food" and searched the room, as if someone would hear him speak this secret, "You don't think we'll have to…"

"Write an essay on her and…" Henry made a pretend shocked gasp. " _Read it.._ _ **in front of the CLASS**_ _?"_ He clutched his heart and fainted.

"Leave me alone. You know I'm not comfortable standing in front of the class like that. It's like "Oh, judge me, please. I beg you." Tyler didn't know why he tried with Henry anymore. He had always thought Tyler was too sensitive no matter how bad it hurt Tyler's feelings when he said that (maybe that's what he meant by too sensitive.) No matter how long they had been best friends Tyler had never really liked Henry (and vise versa.)

The cafeteria seemed to get quieter and quieter, like everyone was listening in on his embarrassing fear of "performing" in front of people. Tyler's cheeks got red as he looked around to see who was laughing. The constant laughter of the teenagers made Tyler paranoid that everyone of them were laughing at him. Zoned out, Tyler stood up from his seat. Henry's blond James Dean hair fell straight over one eye as he eyed Tyler to sit down. His eyes were wide with force.

 _No. Tyler, sit down. Not here. Please no. Not in front of everyone. Stop embarrassing me._

At least that's what Tyler saw.

"Sorry, I've got to go."

Tyler grabbed his tray and stormed to the bathroom to eat his "food."

To sit in silence.


	4. Friend, Please

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. I had a whole chapter written and I was just planning to upload tonight, but then I started reading my work and I realized how bad it was. So I erased everything on this chapter and somehow this came out.  
Hope you enjoy

I'm okay.

xxooxx

"The _lip ring_ though..." Tyler muttered to his mash potatoes that seemed to be breathing on his lunch tray. The boy sitting across from Tyler responded with a snicker.

"I would rock something like that" The boy spoke confidently to his mysterious chicken nuggets.

Tyler shot him a quick look.

"I was joking, kid."

Tyler always hated whenever Oliver called him "kid." He won't let go of the fact that he is 18 while Tyler is 17. Like there's some huge knowledge gap between the year they were born in. Sure, maybe he learned to walk before Tyler, cool. Let it go.

Just then, Tyler was interrupted of his annoyed state of mind. Two of the hottest girls in school looked as if they were heading towards their lunch table.

This had to be a mistake.

 _We don't have a chance with them._

"Stop looking, man. You don't have a chance with them." Oliver flashed his smirk over his shoulders at the girls as they smiled back.

There it was.

Once again Tyler is also reminded that it was _he_ who couldn't get a girlfriend. It was never Oliver who needed a date to homecoming. He always found one the night of. It was that easy for him. It was Tyler who had to try, beg, plead, and even lie to girls to get them to look at him. Smirk at him. Anything.

Tyler looked at these beautiful girls, blonde long hair, skinny waist, and perfect teeth. Oliver was right. He could never get a girl like that. _Never._

Suddenly, it was no longer an illusion. These girls were actually walking- no prancing- over to their table!

"Hey guys." They said in unision, using the same tone, same face, same walk. _Same._

Oliver did the most Oliver thing to do and that was to make them swoon.

"Are either of you are looking for a date to Prom? If you are, I'm right here. You can't miss me." He winked at them and they both giggled.

 _Same._

"No, sorry we already have dates." The girl answering for the both them had a name. Tyler wasn't sure what their name was, but he thought it might be Emma.

The opposite girl named Ava (maybe) spoke up this time, standing a little tired now.  
 _Man,_ thought Tyler, _popular girls must do a lot of walking to desperate boys lunch tables._

"We actually wanted to ask _you_ something." Their identical hazel green blue eyes flickered to Tyler. _Same. Everything._

Tyler looked behind him. The classic "are you talking to me" point to the chest and checking behind to see if there is someone more important they might be talking to. Someone not Tyler.

"Me?" Tyler liked playing dumb. It's what kept him safe most of the time.

The two girls giggled as if Tyler actually meant to be funny. He could see Oliver looking confused at Tyler. He could almost hear " _why are they talking to a baby like you?"_ come out of Oliver's mouth, but nothing came.

"Yes, silly, you!"

Tyler was in awe. Complete shock. Like the kind you find in the movies where the main character does a complete personality 360 that you don't see coming. It devastates you for a second because you really liked the low life, no girlfriend, basketball obsessed kid that they had been for 7 whole scene changes, but they are different now.

Popular girls _talked_ to him.

They began talking again,

"We were wondering if you were going to play in Battle Of The Bands this year. Student Council spent all this money towards it, but if barely anyone participates then all the money goes to waste and we wouldn't want that, now would we?" Their sweet tones kind of became twisted as _they_ became the desperate boys now.

"Besides," Maybe-Emma continued, "your brother Zack told us you rap _and_ play piano. He said you're pretty good and that we could bet all the money we raised that you'll win. So what do you say?"

The thing was Tyler didn't actually know what to say. He didn't know whether to personally murder Zack for telling them about the keyboard incident last night, or punch himself for playing the stupid instrument in the first place. These girls didn't care who Tyler was or what he cared about. They only cared if they make money off of him, and that scared Tyler. A gigantic "no" came to mind. Basketball was his thing, not piano.

 _Rapping isn't going to get you a full ride to Oliber. Music comes second._

Plus, he's never been able to "woah" any girl with his musical abilities (has he tried? No.)

Basketball is the manly thing to play not a keyboard. _Gosh._

"Kid?" Oliver snapped in his face to take Tyler's gaze from his hands.

 _Kid. Ouch._

Tyler snapped out of his thoughts to look up at the two girls and the annoyed dirty blonde _adult_ with Ray Bans and tight skinny jeans.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Uh..I'm sorry, but I.." Tyler began, but never finished.

"He'd love to." Oliver spoke for him instead.


	5. Bleed To Know

Sorry that this chapter is exceptionally dramatic, but I'm a walking talking emo theater kid so you'll have to deal

xooxxo

Josh's first day went technically better than he'd hope it would (sarcasm).

First hour Biology with Mr. Frederick went fast. The kids kept staring Josh down, maybe even gawking. _I knew I should have taken out the lip ring._ More and more Josh thought about it he didn't think he could take it out. It was the last known evidence of his life back in Indiana. _That was a good time._ Josh could reminisce all day about his old friends, old life, old everything. _Old._

It became so old after awhile. Thinking about how life could be never got Josh any closer to how he wanted it.

Lunch was severely memorable.

Knowing no one, Josh sat at the farthest corner away from the haunting cliques.

Preps. Jocks. Emos. Nerds. Druggies.

Josh was afraid of them all.

He also didn't belong in any of them.

Josh felt as if all cliques were bad and isolating because no one can escape their expectations.

Of course, Josh had never been popular, but he was nowhere near a druggie. He was just... _Josh._ Nothing else.

He didn't feel the need to fight his way into a clique or even create one of his own he was just worried about getting through the next 9 months.

The lunch food was okay, but it did kind of feel as if it was looking back into Josh's deep green eyes. Josh gave up on eating and put in his headphones. His MP3 Player was flooded with noise bands like Rancid, The Offspring, and Rage Against The Machine. Luckily, no one was around him and the loud giggles canceled out his existence so he could play his music as loud as he wanted. The heavy drums and bass guitar flooded his brain, taking away some anxiety.

He tilted his head up and somewhere, in the rows of cliques he saw a familiar face.

 _The girl who smiled at nothing._

This time she was _actually_ smiling at something. _Someone._

She was looking up from her chair at someone standing in front of her, moving their hands wildly in conversation. Josh watched as the girl said something inaudible back, the devilish smirk disappearing. It was a boy. His tall lanky body began to tense up, as the girl began to furrow her brows. Josh watched closer as he found himself getting tense as well. He took out one earbud to try and get some kind of sound from the two people. There was a small pause between their undetectable conversation. _She looks kind of small and scared._ Josh hadn't gotten a good look at the girl on the bus, her hair was a veil to her face. Now that Josh could see her she looked meek, but full of anger. Anger she wants to use on someone. For her own sake.

Just at that moment she stood from her chair, kind of clumsily, but still firey. She said something soft and just then the boy's clenched fist had made a hard collision to her cheek. She stumbled but attempted to bite him. Josh would have laughed, but for some reason he didn't have time. It felt like he was sitting at his lunch table one second, he blinked, opened his eyes, he was in his way to their table. The whole school was watching the fight. The girl was getting hit really badly as she tried to punch back on the floor. Her tiny screams were now able to be heard.

Josh wasn't watching anymore. No. He grabbed the guy's shirt collar and threw him roughly to the ground, climbing on top of him, punching him harder and harder with every throw. Josh couldn't stop himself, the boy under him was pushing back, trying to get Josh off, but that wasn't happening. Josh couldn't remember anything else except the look on the girl's shocked, bloody face as he got pulled off the boy by staff. Her white uniform polo shirt was deep red from her nose, but she remained sitting on the floor, staring at Josh.

The best part wasn't that he saved her.

It was that he realized he was just as fiery as her.


	6. Not Today

Tyler looked over at a smirking Oliver. The two girls smiled with pride. _They got their way. Not mine._ Tyler began to explain that he really didn't want to do it and that he wasn't all that good, but Maybe-Ava spoke up for Tyler. _Why is everyone speaking for me?_

Great! Tryouts are next Monday through Wednesday from 4-8 PM. I'm so glad you can help out our school like that, Skylar." She merrily handed him a neon pink flyer. In big bold letters the sheet said "BATTLE OF THE BANDS: WORTHINGTON CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL STYLE!"

Despite the being used and name change, Skylar responded with a soft monotone "anytime."

The two Maybes pranced away, moving onto some other desperate boys.

It was quiet for a second due to Oliver being interested in his food all of the sudden. Tyler decided to break the silence.

"Why would you tell them yes after you knew I wanted nothing to do with it?" Tyler didn't think he could ever be angrier.

Oliver took a few bites and swallows before even acknowledging that Tyler said anything before then.

"Did they really just call you Skylar?" He almost choked on his food with laughter. His ray Bans slipped forward onto the tip of his nose.

"That's not even the-" Tyler tried to begin again, but was interrupted by laughter again.

"I mean, did you really think they came over to say hi? They just wanted to use you, kid." His insincere smile got distracted as he checked out the girls blushing and giggling at the prep table.

" _Great_. Thanks. But that doesn't explain why you'd make me do something so..not cool. Only the emo kids play in Battle of The Bands. Do you want me to be single forever? This isn't _cool._ This isn't going to help my popularity and-"

"Tyler, what popularity? You're a basketball player. Just do it. Take chances, or whatever."

"Yeah, I would, but this isn't anything I'm interested in. I don't _do_ bands and _absolutely_ don't _do_ music. I just-" Tyler began to find words to say until he settled with, "I just can't believe you did that to me." Tyler's voice mellowed out into a sad gaze. The thing was that Tyler liked Oliver when he wasn't like that. When his pride didn't make Tyler look stupid. When Oliver didn't make him look stupid, really.

Oliver stared up at Tyler seriously and looked actually bad for once. Like he might actually-no he wouldn't- like he might actually apologize.

"Tyler, I-" he began, but the next few minutes were chaos. The two boys heard shrieks and looked to the scene. A small Junior girl was being thrown to the ground. Tyler knew this girl. She used to be friends with him in middle school but people and times change, right? Her name is K.C Anderson. She never really stood out to people until high school. No one really knows why, but she just got so violent and quiet.

A morbid sense of humor mixed with closed off body language scared people so no one really paid too much attention to her. Tyler stood up from his chair as if he could really do something about it, but he's so afraid of conflict and too shy to do anything. The cafeteria quickly grew quieter and watched the girl kick the boy back from her. _This is all so wrong,_ Tyler gripped his shirt collar as he squirmed out of discomfort, _someone should be helping her, anyone. Why won't anyone help her?!_ Tyler was getting angry now. No one in this whole school has the common decency to help this girl. This girl is getting the daylights beat out of her and no one helps. _No one._ This is so wrong.

All of a sudden, the "lip ring kid" came out of nowhere and threw the boy on the ground. He scared Tyler most. His body language came off so harshly. Almost like he'd been waiting to be able to get so violent. Before Tyler could watch the rest he was pulled out of the now standing crowd of teenagers. Oliver pulled him into the empty hallway that was covered by art projects and sports awards.

"What happened? Did you see anything?" Oliver seemed genuinely scared.

Tyler looked around to grasp all that he just saw. _Lip ring boy. K.C. Violence. Fighting. Screams. No one helping. Anger. Lots of it._

"I-I don't really..know." Tyler found that he doesn't do good with this stuff. He'd be the worst eyewitness at a crime scene. He'll see everything, but get so scared that he blocks it out as if he never saw anything at all. Oliver paced the hallway before sitting down against a locker, leaving Tyler standing.

"Was that-?" Oliver started in a confused tone, brushing his dyed red hair away from his face.

"The new kid? Yeah, I think so." Tyler sat down next to him.

"He's pretty tough." He turned towards Tyler to give him a good reassurance that it's going to be okay.

"Yeah," Tyler's mind started to run wild, "a little too tough."


	7. Fake You Out

After two whole hours of contacting parents, telling his side of the story, and getting harassed for the lip ring by the principal Josh was finally able to go back to go home. The principal understood his "trying to protect her" theory, but he still gets two days of detention for being a part of it.

"You nearly killed the kid, Mr. Dun. We can't just let you go off on someone and get away with it. Parents won't allow that and I most certainly won't." His bald shiny head glistened by sweat.

"I understand that, sir, but I didn't "go off" on him for no reason. That girl was-" Josh began, but his principal held up a hand.

"You don't even know her, Mr. Dun. If parents find out you had no idea who that girl was-"

"I actually do know her."

"From what you've explained to me it sounds like you only met her this morning on the bus. Did you even talk to her?"

"Well, no, but-" Josh couldn't win this and he knew it, but it was worth fighting for.

"That's exactly it, Mr. Dun. It looks-"

"Josh." He meekly spoke at the hands in his lap. The principal stared at Josh, confused.

"Pardon?"

"My name. It's Josh, sir. You can just call me Josh."

There was an awkward silence between the two, as Josh looked around the dark brown room. Pictures of what looked like his kids and family were flooded all over the room, and a tall plastic tree stood in the corner.

"Of course, Josh. Anyway, that's just exactly what I mean, though. It looks as if you don't know the girl and you just went off on the boy to join a fight."

Josh jumped up from his seat in anger,

"No! Of course not! I almost killed him because he was punching a girl. That's not cool. You don't just-" Josh felt like screaming, but voice raising was all he could really manage.

"Josh," His principal's voice somehow made him realize how much Josh was proving his "protection" theory wrong. "Look at you right now. You're not acting like someone who was protecting someone. You're the _new kid_. Now, don't you want a good impression on these kids that you have a fresh start with?" He was talking to Josh as if he were trying to convince a child to eat his carrots for the benefits of superpowers.

"It's a little late for fresh starts, don't you think?" The words came out a little too harsh. _He's only trying to help, Josh. Calm down._

"You may be right about that, but teaching you a lesson won't keep this from happening again. For the sake of this school we have to punish you. I'm sorry, but we have to."

"You don't _have_ to do anything." Josh went back to trying to slither his way out of the whole "detention" topic, but it didn't look like it was working.

"In this case I do. Kids don't just lash out like this, Josh. This is a high quality Christian high school. We don't tolerate any kind of behavior. Now I do however understand that you are new so we couldn't have expected you to know all the rules on the first day. That's why you're getting two days instead of two weeks. You're fairly lucky in my eyes."

"Aw shucks." Josh's sarcasm needed to stop. He was trying his hardest to not be rude, but the dried blood on his uniform kept rubbing against his chest and it became a constant reminder of how much he didn't belong here.

"Now you can either take the two days with a grain of salt or you can talk to your mother and father about good old _transfering,_ eh?" Josh looked for a last name around the room. _Who even is this guy?_ He finally found a name along the wall of his degrees. _Wallace._

"You're right, Mr. Wallace. I'll come to detention this week, okay?" Josh couldn't believe he was agreeing for once. His tongue was bit down hard and he couldn't help but half way cross his fingers as he said this.

"I'm glad we don't have to see you go, Mr-" Mr. Wallace stopped himself, "Josh."

"Is that all? Can I go?" Josh began to stand up, getting more and more uncomfortable with every breath. Mr. Wallace looked around his desk as if to make sure he wasn't missing anything from his imaginary list that imaginarily made.

"I believe so. School ends in about 15 minutes so if you could just sit in the waiting room outside my door until the bell rings that'd be great."

And with that Josh got up and left in a rush.


	8. Frustrating & So Degrading

Tyler and Zack packed themselves tightly into the front bus seat. Tyler told his younger brother what happened at lunch with the two Maybes and Oliver. He tried not to be so mad at Zack for volunteering him into Battle Of The Bands because he hadn't actually told him to not tell anyone about their song.

"So basically Oliver _ruined_ your life?" Zack scratched his head in confusion. Tyler turned towards Zack to try and get him to understand where he was coming from.

"Basically, except ruined might be a little too dramatic." Tyler thought about it for a second and took it back. "No, he might have actually ruined my life." The two boys laughed because Tyler knew he was about to cry.

"Why is this so bad? I mean, Tyler, you're an amazing musician. Why are you hiding it?"

"Well, _it's_ not cool." Tyler spoke so nonchalantly that it confused Zack.

"What isn't cool?"

"You know, just playing music. I just don't think being a," Tyler checked to see who was listening, " _piano rap kid_ is anything to be excited about. Those are the type of kids who get bullied."

"Sure, but do you love," Zack imitated Tyler and looked around to see the kids who could care less about what they were talking about before whispering, "being that _piano rap kid_?" Tyler thought about it for a few seconds. He had never really asked himself that question. Despite how people might view his talent he actually enjoyed writing poetry along with music. It was so relieving. Tyler searched his mind for the right answered, but he could only think of one answer.

"In another world, yes." He ran his fingers through his spiked chestnut hair and looked outside.

The two boys were quiet for a few minutes before Zack picked up the conversation again.

"Do you think you'll actually do it?"

"Do what?" Tyler had already tried to push the topic out of his mind before it entered again.

"Battle Of The Bands."

Tyler thought about it before saying anything.

"I don't see how I can get out of it." He sighed loudly and watched the little kids walking home from school. _Where were their parents?_

"You could tell Gracie that you don't want to do it anymore."

"Who's Gracie?"

"The girl you talked to today."

"Oh that's her name?"

"Yeah, the other one is Ava."

 _I got one out of the two names right. Not bad._

"Wait, which one is Gracie?"

"The hot one."

"They're both hot."

Tyler and Zack began laughing as it began to raise Tyler's spirit.

"I could tell them that, but I'll feel bad because they really need that money to not go to waste. Plus, if I don't win I could really care less. If I win I could also care less."

Zack smiled and it reminded Tyler how much he looked up to him.

It became silent again until Tyler looked around the bus. He didn't see K.C as he normally would, sitting in her seat, burying herself into anything to try and blend in, but he did see Lip Ring Boy.

His cut lip, bloodied polo, and his bruised up right eye. He had his earphones in and the music was loud and upbeat with lots of screaming. Tyler never understood how people could listen to that music. _All that screaming doesn't actually mean anything so why listen to it?_

The new kid tapped the two unsharpened pencils he had in his hands against his thighs. Softly at first, but the more the volume went up on his earphones the harder he tapped. Tyler was surprised at the fact that he could actually keep beat so well. Lip Ring Boy tapped his feet and pretended to drum solo, but the weird thing was that it looked cool. It looked as if he could actually know what he's doing. _I doubt it though. He probably only has time to steal from the stores in the mall._ Tyler immediately felt bad for thinking so judgmentally. This kid had just saved that girl from literal death. He watched the boy and debated on whether or not to ask his real name. _I can't keep going on calling him Lip Ring Boy._

The bus hit a bump, causing him to get pushed closer to the seat the boy was sitting at.

Tyler decided to open his mouth and start the conversation.  
"Do you play?"


	9. Psychopath Sitting Next To You

Rancid loudly flowed through the headphones Josh had bought at a gas station during the car ride to Columbus. They worked incredibly well for convenient store headphones. In fact they worked so well that Josh wasn't able to hear anything from the outside world. On the bus ride home he could barely swallow the rage he had. Not for the principal or the boy who started the fight or for anyone. Just at the situation in general. It was the most frustrating thing Josh had ever have happen to him. No one gave him credit for anything these days. _I just saved that dumb girl from some guy, but people want me to go to detention because I look like I started it._ Just everything gave Josh blood boiling anger right now. Nothing could stop it and he was afraid he'd lose it right here, on the bus, in front of all these people.

He pulled out the two unsharpened pencils he happened to have in his backpack and began to drum to "Midnight." Josh felt the slight jerks of the bus and he drummed along with them. The sticky hot sun beat down on him through the window, causing him to stop to wipe sweat away from his forehead.

He could feel a fascinated pair of eyes beat on him hotter than the sun, but he didn't feel like giving them the time of day. _It's that kid from this morning in my English class._ Josh assumed that they would realize that he was _not_ looking back at them and stop looking but they never did. The boy kept staring as if he were trying figure out a puzzle on Josh. He went back to drumming harder and faster, giving the boy something to watch. Josh knew he was a good drummer, and he liked to flaunt it when the time was right, but he never really had a right time in public.

Did he have a band? Of course. Back in Indiana Josh was in a band called Weekday Holiday with his best friend Matthew, but all that doesn't exist anymore and he doesn't have a band or play gigs. Here he is now, sitting on a school bus, bloody, beaten, and gawked at by some kid. _This day really is getting better and better._ Josh noticed the boy speaking something to him, but it was inaudible because of the music. He took out his earbuds, a little annoyed. Josh turned his body to the left side of the bus to face the boy.

"What?"

"Do you play?"

"Do I play what?" Josh was getting a little more irritated by this unwanted conversation.

"Drums, do you play drums?"

"Yeah, a little why?" Although Josh normally liked to brag about his drumming to other show offs he didn't feel in the mood for it this time.

"No reason you're just good." The boy's eyes flickered down to his cut lip.

"I'm not using a kit or sticks."

"Nice practice then?"

"Thanks." Josh began to turn away again and put in his headphones once more before the boy began talking again.

"I saw what you did today. The fight. I saw it."

"I'm pretty sure everyone did. You honestly couldn't miss it." Josh looked over at the kid. He looked kind of tired and sad. He honestly looked _awful._ Not ugly or anything, God no, not ugly at all. In fact his was so handsome that Josh didn't know how girls weren't flirting with him up the block, but that's not the point. This boy looked like the kind of awful that you see in the dog abuse commercials. He looked like he had seen some _things_ in his lifetime. The deep brown eyed boy had deep circles under his eyes and tight fists that were clenched tightly, turning his knuckles white.

 _He looks terrified...of me. Another reminder that I'm the one two watch out for. I'm danger._

"I think it was really cool how you stood up for that girl. You must really like her."

Josh almost choked on his own saliva at what the boy had just said. He had just met this girl this morning and she seemed to hate Josh. There's no reason for him to like her at all. He was just doing a justice to the whole "boys don't hit girls" principal. It could have been any girl out there today and he would have saved them no matter who it was. It just _happened_ to be her.

"I don't like her." Josh looked away and scoffed softly to himself. The boy must have heard the scoff because he scoffed as well.

"The way you punched that guy it didn't look like that. It looked like-"

"Okay, I get it, it didn't look like how it was supposed to. Just..just- new topic." Josh snapped at this poor terrified boy, but he didn't care because he'd taken people's crap too much today.

"Okay jeez sorry." He swiveled his body away Josh, facing forward again, staring at the back of the bus driver's seat. Normally Josh would have swiveled too, but he didn't. He just sat there staring at the terrified teen.

"I'm sorry," Josh paused to breathe and look up at the sky, trying to remember why we was apologizing, "I just..I've had enough for one day. It's my first day and I'm pretty sure it's my last."

The boy whispered to his brother silently and the kid's brother looked straight at Josh.

"In 5th grade I got into a fight on my first day." The brother smiled to Josh and his eyes said " _You're going to make it. I swear."_

It was silent for a second. Josh was trying to find how this was going to make him feel better, but instead he just spoke back.

"How'd that go for you?"

"Well, I'm here, aren't I?"

It became silent once more until Josh was done processing the brother's words and whispered a subtle "thank you." The brother gave him a thumbs up and looked passed his other brother that he was sitting next to to look at Josh straight in the eyes.

"I'm Zack," he threw his hand across his brother's lap to shake Josh's hand, "and this is my brother Tyler." Zack pointed his thumb to who was now understood as Tyler.

 _Huh, a very fitting name for this kid._ Josh didn't feel the need to tell them his name, because honestly he swore he wouldn't be talking to them any longer. _They're too...weird._

"Nice to meet you." Josh spoke in one of those voices that obviously says " _I'm not going to take the time to say your names back because I honestly don't care."_

He could tell the tone hurt Tyler's feelings, but Zack looked oblivious to Josh's signature " _eff you_ " voice.

Just before the bus pulled up to Josh's stop Zack spoke in Josh's direction, causing Tyler to stare at him. Zack asked the one question Josh was really aiming to closely avoid.

"What's your name?"

Josh sighed and thought of a name to give him. _I'm anyone I want to be right now._

He looked around at some name clues to conduct a name with but all he saw was street signs and asphalt.

"My name is," he finally thought of the perfect name, "Deryck." Josh (now Deryck) had gotten this name from the lead singer of one of his favorite bands, Sum 41.

The bus stopped in front of "Deryck's" house and as he was getting up to get off the bus Zack shouted loudly to him:

"Stay alive, Deryck!"

...

Stay alive, guys.

I love you.


	10. Dirty Dirty Crimes

The two brothers shrugged their way off the bus and watched as it left them behind. Tyler's brain flooded with so many thoughts that he wasn't sure which one to focus on first. As he stood where the bus once stood he thought of how hopeless Deryck must feel right now. _Sure he's rude, but he's just a new kid trying to fit in. Even the meanest of kids don't deserve that._ Tyler grasped his red backpack's white straps and stared at the house across the street from his.

 _I wonder if their son or daughter has ever felt that bad._

It hadn't occurred to Tyler until now how many times people hurt a day. His school is filled with at least 3,000 student and at least four people got hurt today. _Deryck, K.C, her hopefully now ex boyfriend, and I._ It stuck Tyler how quickly people can hurt and the various of reasons they hurt. He felt as if fire was whirling around his brain, lighting everything it could on fire.

The worst part of all this is that Tyler didn't even help her. A girl he called his "friend" during middle school was getting beaten up badly, but he didn't even do anything. _That's_ what ate him up inside. _That's_ what broke him down.

His hands began to panic and his face began to scrunch up at the thought of people in pain. Tyler made a quiet burp noise as if he were about to _\- God, no._

 _I was doing so good! Not now!_ He broke down to his hands and knees, caving his stomach into his spine.

His mind consumed his body with the regret of not saying no to the Maybes, hurt for himself and everyone, and the curiosity of not knowing why Deryck was so-

Just then Tyler felt a strong hand on his shoulder and he jumped back up into a standing position as if nothing ever happened.

"Are you okay?" It was Zack. Tyler had forgot that this whole time Zack had been behind him, getting off the bus with him, wondering what was wrong with his brother. Tyler felt a warm flood erupt from his own stomach and up to his cheeks.

"Uh-yeah, I'm fine. Everything is fine." Tyler's embarrassment swallowed him whole and he tore through it until he made it to the front door of his house.

"Tyler," Zack got quiet as he watched Tyler's hand tremble as he gripped the door handle. "Tyler, should I get mom?" His little brother's voice seemed terrified of Tyler. eyes were deep with bags. He was _so_ tired. Not in the sleeping sense, but in the "I'm tired of breathing, thinking, struggling" kind of tired.

"No!" Tyler almost screamed. His parents could threaten to get him _help_ again. Help Tyler didn't want. Help that Tyler did need. "I just need sleep. I need-" Tyler held onto the door handle tightly as his legs kindly gave out.

Zack immediately gripped his brother from under the arms and held his body up enough for him to not fall. Tyler hated Zack looking at his older brother as if he really did need the _help_ his parents convinced the doctors Tyler needed.

"Tyler, get in Mom's car. Come on." Zack drug his panic attacked brother around to the front of the house where the garage door was.

"Let me go! I don't need help! I'm fine!" Tyler screamed quietly to his brother.

"Tyler, you're barely able to walk! Something's wrong with you if you think I'm not going to do something!"

"Something's wrong with me anyway so leave me alone! I can deal with this on my own!"

Zack and Tyler made their way to the garage door opener and put in the code. Near the inside of the door there was a car key that belonged to the only car in the garage. He hit the _unlock_ button in the car key fob. Zack pulled on the handle of their mother's Chevy, gently putting Tyler in the car. Tyler closed the door for Zack, surrendering his choice to him. Zack got into the driver's seat and sat at the wheel, starring. He didn't start the engine. He didn't put the car key in. He didn't look at Tyler. They just sat in silence.

A rush of embarrassment overcame Tyler like a sea.

" _I'm supposed to be taking care of him,"_ Tyler thought to himself. " _Not the other way around."_ He looked out the car window and replayed the entire day in his head. Everything that could have possibly gone wrong has. _Everything_.

Just then Zack spoke up.

"You know," he started, "I care about you, right?"

Tyler thought about it for a moment. _Do I know that he cares about me?_ Tyler didn't take too long to answer this question.

"Yeah, I do." His head fell, ashamed of letting his organs twist and turn everything into a mess. Ashamed of letting his brother see him through all of this. Just ashamed.

"You know mom and dad care about you, right?"

Tyler took a little more time on this question. Of course they care, but is it for the right reason. The Joseph family has an almost godly reputation. With his father being the principal of his high school and his mother being the basketball coach, they have a figure to maintain. That means their children have to do the same.

Why did Tyler's parents get him _help_? Well, if we are really honest, it's because Tyler's father was told by the PTO that Tyler had been sitting alone at lunch in the beginning of high school. Being antisocial and scared isn't an option. Their school has to look the best, even if that means forcing their children to be the best to represent the school. The more he went, the worse it got.

He began shutting down in the middle of class when the teacher called on him. He started to think to hard about everything and wake up in cold sweats. Panic attacks were common for him, but not recently. In fact, the doctors had been telling him for awhile now that he was getting so much better. _What a lie._ So, did Tyler think his parents cared about him sincerely?

"No, I wasn't aware of that." Tyler's tone came out a little too rude for all the things Zack has been doing for him.

His brother turned to look Tyler in the eyes.

"Tyler, they really do. You don't have to believe me, but just know they do."

It was silent for a few seconds.

Zack turned back to the wheel and held his hands tightly around it.

"Either way, I need you to be okay."

Tyler shot him a look of hurt and anger.

"Do you think I'm not trying? Do you think I want this kind of reputation for mom and dad? Oh, you know the school Worthington Christian? Yeah, the principal's son is a complete basket case. Just look at him! He can't even breathe without his younger brother's help!" By this time Tyler's voice was broken with pain and anger.

"I know you're trying but…" Right in the heat of the moment Zack said something he really shouldn't have. Not to anyone and absolutely not to Tyler. Not now. Not never. Zack paused to look down into the eyes of the steering wheel's golden plus sign that served as the Chevy logo. "Just, try harder…?" Tyler's heartbeat pounded out of his chest. _How could he have the nerve to tell me I'm not trying? How could he say that?_

Tyler looked Zack directly in the eyes, reading every ounce of what he might have meant. Zack looked sorry but for the wrong reasons. _Sorry he had a brother like me. Sorry he had to deal with me. Sorry he had to watch mom and dad deal with me. Sorry he knew me. Just sorry._ After all this anger, Tyler smiled. He felt nothing. He couldn't feel his emotions anymore. If someone came up to him and asked how he was doing the correct answer would be "I'm not sure." He tried to read himself, but the only thing he felt was his heart breaking. No feeling. Just tearing. The tear in his heart.


	11. Lips are Chapped and Faded

Josh laid in his bed, hair wet, and heartbroken.

He had to go back to school tomorrow.

Of course, his mom got the exciting phone call that her son is a raging psychopath who lashes out on the innocent, and of course, his mom didn't find it "cool" in anyway.

"Joshua William Dun! You promised me this year would be different! What the _hell_ were you thinking?!" The disappointment in her eyes burnt Josh down to the core, but he knew that he did it for all the right reasons. Just then Josh's father perked up out of his lazy boy,

"You _fought_ someone?" The surprise and intrigue in his father's voice was almost taunting.

Josh looked down at his feet and then into his mother's angry eyes. "Yes, I did, Dad." His voice mellowed into a calm almost whisper. Josh had never been ashamed in his whole life until now. His life so far had been full of adventure and no regret, but after seeing his mother's eyes that hollowed out and sad made Josh almost regret standing up for the girl.

"Wow! Tell me about it! Did he cry?" Josh's father's voice jumped with excitement. Josh's mother turned to his father and scolded him on "responsibility" and making "good first impressions," but still his father was silently interested.

The conversation ended with the classic "go to your room" and the other classic "fine!"

So here we are, it's 8:30 PM. Josh had taken the coldest shower in the history of ever and now lie down with his freezing hair and heart. Suddenly, he felt a small vibration from his phone. It was a Myspace notification.

He checked his tiny Blackberry. _New Message!_

Josh's heart beat quickly as he accepted to see the message.

 _I hope it's Matthew. Please. Please! Be Matthew!_

Hoping that the message was from his best friend in Indiana, Matthew, did him no good because it was the complete opposite.

 _thatdeafkid:_ _hey._

Josh stared at the message.

 _What kind of name is thatdeafkid?_

As disappointed as he was to hear that the message was not from Matthew he found mystery in this one text.

He texted back quickly.

 _iduncare:_ _hello_

 _thatdeafkid: how r u?_

 _iduncare: ive been btter. how r u?_

 _thatdeafkid: ive been better 2_

 _iduncare: do i no u or something?_

 _thatdeafkid: i would say so_

 _iduncare: what does that mean?_

 _thatdeafkid: it means u do but u don't know me_

 _iduncare: look, i don't want to play games. today hasn't been so good and im tired._

 _thatdeafkid: why?_

 _iduncare: why don't i want to play games?_

 _thatdeafkid: no why has you day been bad?_

 _iduncare: why should i tell u idk you_

 _thatdeafkid: but u do_

 _iduncare: and i don't?_

 _thatdeafkid: exactly_

 _iduncare: seriously i just want to know who u r_

 _thatdeafkid: but u already know_

 _iduncare: look. u obviously just like to screw with people. im going to bed now. Goodnight._

 _thatdeafkid: no! Wait_

 _iduncare: what?_

 _thatdeafkid: you nearly died today because of me and i nearly died to day if it weren't for u_

Josh sat up in bed, thinking over everything about this girl that he has collected so far.

 _She's a weird girl with a weird username with a weird way of letting people know who she is._

 _thatdeafkid: r u still there? Hello?_

 _iduncare: im here_

 _thatdeafkid: ok good bc i just wanted to tell you thanks_

 _thatdeafkid: i don't know what i would have done if u weren't there_

 _thatdeafkid: hello?_

 _iduncare: hi_

 _thatdeafkid: did u see what i wrote?_

 _iduncare: yeah_

 _thatdeafkid: so..?_

 _iduncare: it was no big deal really… i mean i only have 3 weeks of grounding, two detentions, and an "i almost kid a kid" stuck to my forehead for probably the next 4 years. It was nothing._

 _thatdeafkid: i hope ur kidding_

 _thatdeafkid: that wasn't supposed 2 happen, u no_

 _iduncare: i no_

 _thatdeafkid: im sorry_

 _iduncare: are you okay?_

 _thatdeafkid: shouldn't i b asking u that?_

 _iduncare: i'm ok_

 _thatdeafkid: me too_

 **2:48 A.M**

 _iduncare: i cant believe i never asked but what is ur name?_

 _thatdeafkid?: kc. but you can call me ruby_

 _iduncare: why ruby?_

 _thatdeafkid: you will have to earn that answer_

 _iduncare: well can you atleast explain why your username is thatdeafkid?_

 _thatdeafkid: bc i like deaf people_

 _iduncare: thats fine but its alittle weird for a username dont u think?_

 _thatdeafkid: considering the fact that i am deaf...no_

 _iduncare: haha ok_

 _thatdeafkid: why are u laughing?..._

 _iduncare: ur joking right?_

 _thatdeafkid: why would i joke about that_

 _iduncare: oh. I'm so sorry. I feel so bad. I thought you were joking._

 _thatdeafkid: im not_

 _iduncare: so you do like ASL?_

 _thatdeafkid: yeah pretty much_

 _iduncare: but today in the lunchroom you said something to that guy. The one who hit you._

 _thatdeafkid: josh, we can talk we just can't hear._

 _iduncare: right but he said something to u. he wasn't signing but you understood him…_

 _thatdeafkid: i read lips sometimes. most hearing people don't know ASL so i read their lips and speak to them like...well like a normal person._

 _iduncare: ur just as normal as them just in a different way._

 _thatdeafkid: well that made sense_

 _iduncare: whatever. Im tired._

 _iduncare: today on the bus, why were u listening to music if you can't hear it?_

 _thatdeafkid: i can feel the vibrations in my ears and that's just as good._

 _iduncare: is that why you were smiling so big?_

 _thatdeafkid: that happens every time_


End file.
